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Monday, 14 April 2014

It’s a melting pot of different nationalities and viewpoints

Second-year IFMC student Deniss Korotkevicsis
confident he’ll find a place on the job market and looks forward to being able
to make his mark on the financial system.

Global demandAfter finishing high school in Latvia, Deniss Korotkevics (21) was looking
for a challenge in his life, so in 2012 he moved to The Hague to further his
academic education. Being a man of numbers, and following up on a tip from a
friend studying at The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS), Deniss
decided to go for THUAS’ International Financial Management and Control
(IFMC) programme. “I
knew that after the financial meltdown in 2008 there would be a global demand
for economics specialists, so I reckoned this would make it easier for me to
find a job.”Dedication Prior knowledge of how the financial system
works is not particularly necessary when you start the IFMC, says Deniss. “I’m
good at mathematics, but when I first came here I had no knowledge of finance
whatsoever. A healthy dose of dedication is expected of IFMC students though,
and with some self-study I successfully finished my first year. My knowledge of
finance might have been limited when I started the IFMC, but even then I knew I
wanted to contribute towards changing the current economic climate.”

Theory and practice
For Deniss, curiosity triumphs over knowledge, which he thinks is illustrated
by his list of favourite subjects. They include Corporate Finance, Investments
and External Reporting. “The things I have learned in these courses have stuck
in my mind. This is partly due to the fact that all the lecturers have
experience in the field and therefore know exactly what they’re talking about
and how theory relates to practice.”

Guest lectures
That link between theory and practice goes further, he insists. Every three
months IFMC students get the chance to attend guest lectures, such as one given
by Rene Repko, former marketing director at Dutch retail chain HEMA. “He gave
us inside information of certain indicators used to predict and follow customer
and sales information. The lecture itself helped us accomplish a related group
project in which we needed to improve the sales of a fictitious shoe shop.”

Worthwhile
But the most inspiring speaker for Deniss was Starbucks executive, Bill O’Shea.During his visit to THUAS students got the
opportunity to present their own business ideas and get advice from the expert
himself. “Professional gatherings like these make studying so worthwhile. From
this moment on I had no doubt that the IFMC was what I was looking for to help
me start writing my own success story.”

Group projects
Before letting them embark on their financial careers, THUAS prepares its
students by simulating business issues with group projects, explains Deniss.
One of the most notable for him was a football assignment. “In February we had
to simulate the acquisition of an English football team in the Premier League.
The exercise helped us gain a better understanding of what makes certain
investments profitable and what future cash flows we can expect.”

Melting pot
According to Deniss two things make THUAS the ideal place to study. Firstly,
there’s its perfect mix of what could be seen as opposites: silence and revelry.
Secondly, and for him the most important, is The Hague’s international
character. “It’s a melting pot of different nationalities and viewpoints.”

Internship
Next September Deniss is planning to do a half-year internship at a big
multinational such as Procter and Gamble, Unilever, DANONE, Nike, Adidas and
Ernst & Young. “It would be great to obtain a place with a company that
could accommodate my international ambitions and help me on my way towards
becoming a financial manager, because that’s the career path I’ve set my heart
on.” Change of courseClearly, Deniss is ambitious, which is something THUAS
actively stimulates. “I’m not afraid of responsibility and I’d love to think I
could become the type of manager who could challenge and make changes in the
world of finance. I think the system needs to change course, and, for me, the
IFMC is the first step in which I might be able to help set that change in motion.”